A reader is intrigued by the proposed automaton for Venus:
Venusian strandbeets! But how do you get data back home when you have a mechanical rover? Semaphore flags?
Something like. In the link I forgot to add (now fixed in the original post) it says:
Another problem will be communications. Without electronics, how would you transmit science data? Current plans are inspired by another age-old technology: Morse code.
An orbiting spacecraft could ping the rover using radar. The rover would have a radar target, which if shaped correctly, would act like “stealth technology in reverse,” Sauder said. Stealth planes have special shapes that disperse radar signals; Sauder is exploring how to shape these targets to brightly reflect signals instead. Adding a rotating shutter in front of the radar target would allow the rover to turn the bright, reflected spot on and off, communicating much like signal lamps on Navy ships.
Sounds a lot like semaphores to me. But the programming still eludes me. And then materials analysis will also be a bit odd, I’d think. So you can run a (weak) drill fairly easily – but how do you analyze the material you bring up? Reactive chemistry, but you STILL have to figure out the results and how to get your machinery to transmit that result, all without electronics.
